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On the final Sunday of the 2017 regular season, Minnesota Twins fans had the privilege of watching 44-year-old Bartolo Colon put, perhaps, the finishing touch on a lengthy major-league career that will go down as unforgettable.

One night earlier, another pitcher likely closed the book on a story that's been far more impactful and personal to us, playing out from start to finish in our own backyards.

Glen Perkins won't loom as large as Colon in the game's history, but he will deservedly go down as a Minnesota baseball legend, and if we were to establish a Twins Daily Hall of Fame, he'd certainly be a first-ballot inductee.

Aaron and John react to the Twins manager Paul Molitor's contract extension, preview how much the Twins will have to spend this offseason, debate Brian Dozier's future with the Twins, and discuss whether or not Miguel Sano should play third base next year. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link.

The Minnesota Twins are now well underway into creating their offseason blueprint. Coming off a season in which the greatest turnaround in MLB history took place, it’s only fair to wonder what’s next for this organization. The evaluation period for Derek Falvey and Thad Levine is over, which means it’s time for them to make their mark.

A year ago, the Twins were coming off of a 103-loss season, and all of the talk was about whether or not Brian Dozier would be traded for prospects. A deal was not able to be worked out, and Dozier remained with the Twins.

Things have changed after a 2017 season that saw the Twins win 85 games and make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. With Derek Falvey and Thad Levine preaching long-term, sustainable, championship caliber team as the goal, what will they attempt to do with Brian Dozier this offseason?

We know that Major League Baseball keeps its definition of “valuable” as in “Most Valuable Player” intentionally vague. While many believe that it is an attempt to keep people talking about it longer, it is also simply because people define value in different ways. Some believe it should be an award simply given to the best player. Others will argue that other intangibles such as leadership and clutchness should factor in. Some believe that an MVP should be part of a playoff team. Others think that it should be a player from a team that at least contended for a playoff spot. Others don’t care about team’s success in an MVP discussion.

As it relates to a team MVP - as opposed to a team’s MVP - other factors can come into play as well. Some may be statistical. Others may be perceived leadership or a willingness to answer the tough questions from the media following a good or bad game.

Fortunately for the Twins, and their fans, in 2017 the Twins had several players that made big improvements and factor into consideration for Twins 2017 MVP. Today we announce our panel’s choice for team MVP.

Opportunity almost always chooses to knock when you’re stuck on the phone talking to tech support. She does not accommodate your schedule. You play on hers, or you don’t play. This offseason, the Twins will face that reality, because they have a small window to accomplish something they’ve been waiting to do for years.

This offseason is the single best – and maybe only – chance to lock up three of the Twins most important players to long-term deals that keep them in Minnesota beyond their initial free agent years. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario are all in the sweet spot to negotiate a long-term deal.

The Twins used their 32nd-round pick in 2015 to take a tall, left-handed pitcher out of Westmont College. While he was patiently worked with by the Twins early in his career, he has moved quickly in the last 12 months. He has become one of the most intriguing left-handed relievers in the Twins organization. I’ve seen him work in the bullpen in Ft. Myers, and I’ve seen him in games in Cedar Rapids. Catchers who are working with him often use the word “nasty” to describe his stuff.

My non-professional scouting opinion is that he has a good, heavy fastball. He’s tall and his motion makes it look as if he could be a bit wild, but he gets a lot of movement and generally throws a lot of strikes. He also has a really good slider. In 37 games and 58 innings between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, he posted a 1.55 ERA and struck out 85 batters with just 21 walks.

Today starts the 2017 Arizona Fall League season. Each week throughout the Fall League, Steve Lein will post an update on each of the Twins prospects there.

As I watch my dad post picture after picture of himself trudging through the northern woods for grouse and sitting on the island of our northern lake waiting for ducks with the family lab Sage by his side, I’m reminded of how much I love the Fall season.

These are things I grew up doing with him, my brother, and our dogs, and has instilled a lifelong appreciation of this time of year and the colors that come with it. It is my favorite time of the year.

But October also holds a different feeling for a lot of sports fans, myself included, as it also means it is time for the MLB playoffs and the race for the pennant for their favorite team. While the Minnesota Twins finally made it back to the postseason this year, their early exit was a hard one to take until you realized what it meant for the future. That it is very bright for a young hitting core of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler.

All of these players spent some of their minor league development time playing baseball in the offseason. While Sano and Polanco spent this time in their home country of the Dominican Republic where they grew up not too far away from each other, Buxton, Rosario and Kepler all spent time in the Arizona Fall League, which kicks off today around 2:35PM CST.

Twins fans know where Byron Buxton’s season started. Even with a tremendous diving catch on Opening Day, Buxton quickly found himself mired in a terrible offensive slump to start the year. He eventually found himself at the plate and went on to be named Twins Daily's Most Improved Player. Fans have seen him play the game with reckless abandon.

Should Twins fans be worried about the long-term effects of Buxton’s lengthening list of injuries?

The 2017 season will be remembered as a year of great improvement for the Minnesota Twins, as evidenced by their 26-game jump. Yesterday, Twins Daily named Byron Buxton the 2017 Most Improved Player, an award that could have gone to a number of deserving players.

Today, we are announcing the Twins Daily 2017 Rookie of the Year winner. In 2017, 19 rookies spent at least some time with the Minnesota Twins. Fourteen players made their major-league debuts for the Twins in 2017. So, there were a lot of names to pick from, but in the end, the choice was clear. He is also someone who has quite a bit of (virtual) Twins Daily hardware around his home.

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have reached a three-year contract extension with manager Paul Molitor.

In his three seasons since becoming the Twins manager, Molitor is 227-259. That includes two seasons in which they were above .500. They were 83-79 in 2015, and this year's squad went 85-77. Of course, we also have to mention the 103-loss 2016 season in his resume.